Birthday Surprises
by RosiePosieRW
Summary: Fred, George, Angelina and Alicia are determined to make it work for Oliver and Katie - and at what better time than on Katie's seventeenth birthday?


**A/N: Hello everybody! This is a birthday fic for _MelodyPond77_, as it is her birthday today. :D**

**I was going to publish this yesterday, which was Wednesday 21st May for me, but as my Wednesday is Mel's Tuesday, it would have been a day early. Haha, I know Tris was quite disappointed about that - sorry, Tris. It's now Thursday here in the Pacific, which is America's Wednesday - and therefore, Mel's birthday!**

**Mel, I hope you have a _splendiferous_ day today, and do enjoy becoming of age in the wizarding world! (You can now create as much havoc as you like without having the Trace on you, haha.)**

**For _MelodyPond77_. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: None of this is mine, except for the plot. All credit goes to the fabulous J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

Birthday Surprises

* * *

There was a Gryffindor party the night of Katie's seventeenth birthday. This was her seventh and last birthday as a student of Hogwarts, and all her fellow Gryffindor friends were determined to make it the best. Fred and George were in charge of all the party food, to the fear and dismay of some of the other students, and it caused much alarm and wariness from the rest of the House.

However, the Weasley twins had promised to put all their joke food on a separate table, and had agreed to not prank Katie's birthday cake. Angelina and Alicia were in charge of the decorations, and they had hung up many red-and-gold-coloured streamers about the common room, along with hundreds of balloons that, when popped, spewed rainbow confetti.

Fred, George, Angelina and Alicia had also organised for a special guest to come to Katie's birthday party. That aforementioned guest was none other than the Quidditch legend and former Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Oliver Wood. Oliver and Katie, despite their age difference of three years, were great friends who got along very well with each other. Angelina and Alicia knew that both of them nursed a soft spot for each other in their hearts, though they would never admit it.

That was why they had arranged for Oliver to come back to Hogwarts for this special night; they, along with Fred and George, were determined to make it work for Oliver and Katie - and at what better time than on Katie's seventeenth birthday?

* * *

"Fred!" yelled Angelina, as she spotted her boyfriend sneakily dipping his finger into the red-and gold-icing of Katie's birthday cake. Fred looked up, retracting his finger at once, and looking extremely guilty for being caught out in the act. However, Angelina was not won over by his puppy-dog eyes, and she pointed a finger at him. "It took Alicia three hours to bake that cake, and an extra hour to make that icing. I will _not_ have you ruining the cake just because you can't control your appetite!" she told him sternly.

"Sorry, Angie," Fred mumbled, hanging his head. But when he raised his blue eyes to meet her dark brown ones, Angelina could see that they held no remorse in them - in fact, she could almost say that they looked _cheeky_ in a way.

"Just don't do it again, alright?" Angelina bit back a smile as Fred nodded. _The nerve of those Weasley twins..._she thought.

At that moment, Alicia came bounding through the door wearing a pretty purple-and-white striped dress and matching sandal, well into the party spirit. "Hey guys! Is everything ready?" she asked, looking around the room. She started when she saw Fred standing near the cake. "Fred, get away from Katie's cake. I don't want you eating it before she gets here."

When Fred and Angelina exchanged amused looks, Alicia knew something was going on. "What? What did I miss?" She glanced between the two of them, her eyes flicking back and forth, until they landed on the noticeable dent in the icing of the cake. Her mouth dropped open. "Don't tell me you did that, Fred!" she exclaimed, horrified, running towards the cake stand. "Oh no, it's _ruined_!" she wailed, upon examining the side of the cake where Fred had scraped off a (fairly large) dollop of icing.

Fred rolled his eyes at her dramatics. "Relax, Alicia, it's nothing a little bit of magic can't fix."

"Magic never goes well with food," said Alicia absentmindedly, as she continued to stare at the cake.

"How would you know?" George had chosen that time to enter the common room with Oliver at his heels. "How do you know that magic never goes well with food?"

Alicia looked up from the cake, and both she and Angelina turned to George with their 'don't-you-mess-with-me' glares. "You and your brother," they said together at the same time.

At this, George and Fred grinned at each other. "You two are beginning to sound more and more like us," they told them, also speaking simultaneously.

Instead of replying to the twins, the girls took the time to look Oliver up and down appreciatively.

"You look mighty fine tonight, Oliver," Angelina commented.

"Getting the looks on to impress Katie?" Alicia teased, and smirked knowingly as Oliver flushed.

"Ooh, is that _cologne_ I smell on you, Oliver?" Angelina gasped, catching hold of his sleeve and sniffing it.

"Oh my, Oliver Wood wearing _cologne_? That is just unheard of! This is for Katie, all right," Alicia exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Stop it, you two," Oliver ordered, having gotten past his embarrassment despite his still-red face, and fixed them both with his famous Quidditch Captain glare. "It's almost seven. Who's going to get Katie and the Gryffindors?"

"I'm staying here," said Angelina, at once. "I'm not ruling out the possibility of Fred eating all the food."

Fred groaned. "Angie, you spoil all the fun," he whined, but Angelina's decision was final and she ignored his complaints.

"Alicia, you can go get Katie ready," continued Angelina. "Make sure she doesn't suspect anything. George, you can get Harry and co. It doesn't matter if other Gryffindors come along as well, but keep it to just our House. No one from the other Houses are to attend this party, do you hear me? This party is strictly Gryffindors-only."

"Yes, yes, we've been through this, Angelina," said George impatiently.

"I'll go now, to get Katie," said Alicia, already striding across the room. "George, wait a few minutes before you get the Gryffindors." With that, she disappeared through the portrait hole.

* * *

"Katie."

Katie looked up from her plate and turned to see Alicia standing behind her. "Alicia! Where have you been? Where is everybody? I've been waiting for you guys for ages!"

"I know, I'm about to take you to them. There's been a bit of a stir near our common room, and Fred and George are trying to handle the situation." It wasn't the best thing Alicia could come up with, but it was the first that came to mind.

Katie raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Fred and George? Trying to handle a situation? You've got to be kidding me. I have to see this." She stood up from the Gryffindor table and began to walk towards the doors to the Great Hall, but Alicia's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Katie, wait. We have to take the long way, because Fred accidentally _Reducto-_ed a hole in the wall, and there's still a ruckus…"

* * *

"Psst! Harry!" George hissed from behind the Golden Trio.

Harry, Hermione and Ron turned around to face him with questioning looks on their faces.

"What?" asked Harry.

George leaned closer to him, so close that at one point, Harry actually thought that George was going to kiss him when the older boy whispered in his ear, "Have you finished your dinner? We're holding a Quidditch team meeting in the Gryffindor common room."

Harry frowned in confusion, and was about to reply when he realised what George was actually asking: _Have you finished your dinner? We're holding Katie's birthday party in the Gryffindor common room._ He nodded. "Yeah, we're done," he said, looking at Ron and Hermione, who also nodded.

"Come on, then, let's go. The Captain's already here, and we don't want to risk arriving late," George told them, still speaking in code. _Come on, then, let's go. Oliver's already here, and we don't want to risk running into Katie._

* * *

"What did I tell you, Fred?" Angelina strode over to Fred and slapped his hand, which was slowly inching its way towards the food table. "We have to wait for Katie to get here first!"

"But Angie…"

"No buts. If you even think about eating the party food before the party has even started, I'll jinx your fingers together and you won't be able to move them until tomorrow morning," she threatened, pointing her wand at him.

This shut Fred up, and he resorted to watching his former Quidditch Captain pace around the common room. When he got dizzy and couldn't take it anymore, he called out to Oliver, "You'll drill holes into the floor if you keep that up, Ollie."

"Huh?" Oliver glanced up, startled and looking distracted. "Oh, right. Sorry." He scratched the back of his head, and instead of pacing, he kept glancing nervously at the portrait hole.

When it finally did open to reveal George, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, he almost jumped out of his skin until he realised it wasn't Katie, and he resumed his pacing.

"Oliver! Stop that," shouted Fred, who was getting dizzier by the minute.

Oliver halted to a stop right in front of one of the cosy red armchairs, which George pushed him into.

"You need to relax, mate, before you see Katie. You're gonna freak out big-time if you don't calm down for a second," George told him seriously. Oliver nodded, still tense. George looked to Angelina. "Have you fixed the cake yet?"

"I…well, no, we didn't quite know how to fix it," Angelina admitted.

"Fix the cake? What happened?" asked Hermione, walking towards the food table.

"Fred here decided to take a chunk out of the icing to sate his never-ending hunger, and now the cake looks ruined," Angelina told her, narrowing her eyes at her male counterpart, who just grinned at her cheekily.

"Have you used magic on the cake at all?"

"No."

"That's good. Magic and food do not mix well."

"Isn't that what Alicia said?" Fred piped up.

"Well, then, Alicia was right. Now, does anyone have a knife?" asked Hermione.

"There's always the cake knife," Angelina suggested, but Hermione shook her head.

"No, that's too sharp. I need something blunt, like a butter knife."

Oliver looked up. "I brought along a few packets of plastic spoons and forks, but I didn't think to buy any knives…"

Hermione's face lit up. "Yes, plastic spoons are perfect! Where are they?"

Oliver hastily grabbed a packet of Muggle plastic spoons from his bag and tossed it over to her.

Hermione caught it, ripped the packet open, and took out a spoon. She bent over the cake and used the back of the plastic spoon to smooth out the icing where Fred had made a 'hole' with his finger. When she was done, the five other students in the room heaved a great sigh of relief.

"You're a life-saver, Hermione!" said Oliver, crushing Hermione in a tight bear-hug.

"Oh, no problem. It's a useful trick to know."

"So," said Angelina, "now that the cake is fixed, we can get the presents ready."

* * *

"Alicia? Where are we going?"

Alicia looked at her friend strangely. "Back to the common room, of course. Where did you think we were going, Katie?"

Katie shrugged. "I don't know…I've never gone this way, that's all." She glanced around the corridor curiously as they walked on.

When the reached another set of moving staircases, Katie instantly recognised where they were. "Oh look, there's the trophy room! I see now - we're just taking the long way."

"I said that before, Katie. Weren't you listening?"

"Why are we going the long way, anyway?"

"I've already said that, as well. We're going to the common room this way because we don't want to get caught up in all the chaos that's going on because of Fred's misfired spell."

* * *

There was a bit of a commotion when the other members of the Gryffindor House came into the common room after they had finished eating dinner. Some of them knew it was Katie's birthday and that her friends were throwing a party for her. The ones who didn't know still saw that there was a party, with food, and they became very excited. Then there were those who had, unfortunately, filled their stomachs to the brim and couldn't possibly eat a single thing, but they still did, anyway.

"All right! Everybody quiet!" bellowed George, waving his arms in the air to catch everyone's attention. When everyone in the room became still, he continued. "Now, we all know that it's Katie Bell's birthday today, so we've organised a party for her. She'll be arriving with Alicia any minute now. Oliver and Angelina have just gone out to get us some butterbeer. And please note that no one - I repeat: _no one_ - is allowed to touch the food and drinks until they're back." At this, George looked pointedly at his twin, then turned back to face the crowd gathering around the tables. "When they do come in, everyone is to shout 'Surprise!' and start singing 'Happy Birthday'. Got it?"

They all nodded.

"We need to show the rest of the school that we Gryffindors _can_ throw a party, and a fantastic one at that!" hollered Fred. "Scratch that - the best!" Everyone whooped and cheered.

Just then, the portrait hole opened, and everybody was poised to shout 'Surprise!', but it turned out that it was only Angelina and Oliver, their arms full of dusty glass bottles.

Whispers flew around the room as the students caught sight of the former Hogwarts graduate.

"Is that who I think it is?"

"Oliver Wood!"

"That's Wood! Oliver Wood!"

"Our old Quidditch Captain! He's back!"

Oliver only smiled amusedly as he heard the students' gossip about him. As he carefully placed the bottles of butterbeer on the drinks table, a gaggle of fifth-year girls approached him, giggling.

"Oliver, is it true that you're playing for Puddlemere United?" one of them gushed excitedly.

"Uh, yeah," replied Oliver, awkwardly.

"- because that is just sooo _hawt_!" Another girl casually laid a manicured hand on his shoulder, which he gingerly shrugged off.

"Cool. Hey, listen, I gotta go," said Oliver, and he almost ran away from the group of girls.

"But wait, we haven't finished with you yet!" the first girl called to him.

Harry and Ron snorted with laughter as Oliver hurriedly hid behind them.

* * *

"I hope whatever disaster Fred had caused has been repaired," Katie said anxiously. "I wouldn't like to sleep in the Gryffindor dormitories knowing that there's a hole in the wall."

Alicia fought back the urge to laugh; how could Katie not see that it was just a lie, a mere story to tell Katie so that they'd be able to buy more time?

"Relax, Katie," she told her, "I'm sure they've done something about it. I'd hate to hear what McGonagall would say if she knew that Fred had blasted the common room apart."

Katie snorted. "She'd probably give them detention every day for the rest of the year."

"Mmm," Alicia agreed.

They continued to walk on for a few minutes in silence. Then, Alicia broke it by saying, "Look, here's the common room, Katie. I told you Fred had fixed it."

Katie looked up; sure enough, the portrait of the Fat Lady was hanging right in front of them, and the walls to either side of the painting held no trace of being blown apart.

"Treacle tart," Alicia told the Fat Lady, whose portrait swung open at once.

* * *

The room became hushed as soon as they all heard the Fat Lady's portrait creaking open and Katie's voice wafted through to the common room.

"…do hope that Fred hasn't caused any more trouble," Katie was saying. She stopped when she had a full view of the pitch-black common room, and turned to look at Alicia nervously. "Alicia? Why is everything so dark?"

Though she knew Katie couldn't see anything, Alicia only smiled. She couldn't wait to see the expression on Katie's face when she saw who had come to wish her a happy birthday. Seeing as Katie was about to mutter a _Lumos_, she grabbed her friend's hand - the one that held her wand in it - to refrain her from doing so. "No, Katie. You don't want to do that."

"But Alicia, what's going on?"

Instead of replying, Alicia simply waited for something to happen, and it did: they heard a soft _click_, and before they knew it, the light had instantly flooded back into the lamps around the common room.

"_SURPRISE_!"

There was a loud _bang!_ as two of Fred and George's famous Wildfire Whiz-bangs set off racing around the room, exploding into clusters of colourful fireworks overhead.

Katie gasped as Fred and George led everybody in a noisy and extremely off-key rendition of 'Happy Birthday'.

"_Happy birthday to you,_

_Happy birthday to you,_

_Happy birthday, dear Katie,_

_Happy birthday to you!_"

Then came the traditional 'hip hip hooray!' and 'don't forget the firewhiskey!'. Katie was almost in tears as all her friends surrounded her, cheering and clapping enthusiastically. She was scanning around the common room to see who had prepared such an outstanding birthday party for her when she spotted him lurking behind the cake with a smile on his handsome face.

Katie's eyes widened and her mouth opened to an 'o' as he waved to her, and she glanced away from him, her cheeks burning.

Angelina and Alicia noticed their little exchange, and they grinned at each other; their plan to get the two lovebirds together was working.

"Katie, we have invited along a special guest to your birthday party tonight," said Fred.

"Though it seems like you've already seen him," George added, with a knowing wink.

Katie blushed even redder as she mumbled something incoherent under her breath.

* * *

Angelina led Katie to the cake stand. "Here's your cake…courtesy of Alicia."

At this, Fred cleared his throat loudly. "_Ahem_." His eyebrows were raised superiously. "Indeed, thank you Alicia, but I believe that _I_ contributed to the cake as well."

Angelina glared at him, but gave in. "Fred, uh…helped with the icing. Hermione too."

"Thank you guys so much!" Katie squealed happily. "Really, though, you shouldn't have gone to all this trouble just for my birthday -"

"We really wanted to make this a special day for you, as it's not only your birthday, but it's your _seventeenth_ birthday," Alicia interrupted. "You're now officially of age."

George waved his wand, and bright, orange flames sprang up from the wick of each of the seventeen candles placed strategically in a circle on the cake. Katie bent over to blow them out.

"Make a wish!"

Katie's eyes flickered to Oliver, so quickly that he could easily have imagined it. Closing her eyes, she blew out all the flames in one go, and received a loud cheer for her success. She seemed to think for a moment – no doubt deciding on a wish – and then smiled at the other students of Gryffindor. All the of-age teenagers were all crowded around her, tittering about how "little Katie was, at last, growing up".

"We need a knife for the cake," said Alicia. "Where is it? Oh, Oliver! Could you bring the knife? It's just by that jug of pumpkin juice…yes, that one."

He picked it up obediently, and brought it over to Katie. Their fingers brushed as he passed it to her, and she appeared to swallow as they made eye contact again. But she looked away promptly this time, and immediately pressed the knife to the cake. With little effort, it sank through the frosting and sponge until it hit the bottom of the plate with a distinct _clink_.

"Now you have to kiss the nearest male," said Angelina. She smirked as she tilted her head towards Oliver.

He took a step back, horrified that he had been put in this position. Had he done it subconsciously? Placed himself near the knife? But he was no Seer; he could never have predicted this turn of events.

"Well?" Katie asked, looking up at him. "Are you going to give me my first kiss?"

_Her _first _kiss?_ he thought. It seemed that everyone else was equally shocked.

"Hmm." He studied her expression. She looked nervous, but also looked as though she was trying to be brave. Did he really frighten her that much?

_Or maybe_, whispered a part of his mind, _maybe she's just nervous because she likes you, and you've just been asked to kiss her._ He shook his head frantically; he didn't want to have these thoughts under so much pressure.

"You're stalling, Ollie," said George. Oliver glanced at him, and narrowed his eyes, which were flickering between George and Fred. Those damn identical grins. The Weasley twins had arranged this! He turned back to look at Katie, when he caught sight of Alicia and Angelina slapping their palms together in a high-five. He realised that not only his best friends were to blame, but the whole House of Gryffindor were in on this.

He sighed, and bent down. Katie closed her eyes; but he just brushed his lips across her cheek before pulling away.

"Save it for the man you love, Katie," he told her. He then strode back to the other end of the table, ignoring the looks of the other people in the room. Finally, he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Katie was steadily cutting up the cake into equal portions, removing the candles as she went.

Not once did she look at him for the rest of the night.

* * *

Oliver watched jealously as Katie smiled at whatever her date was saying. What a terrible, bloody coincidence it was that they chose the very same restaurant at the very same time on the very same night! She was sitting across the room from him in The Three Broomsticks with one of the Gryffindors, who was a year younger than her - Seamus something. Finnigan, that's right.

"I'm back!" Oliver's date sat down opposite him.

"Nose all powdered?" he asked.

"What? Oh." She rolled her eyes. "It's a stupid expression, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Anyway, are you ready for dessert?" she asked, looking pointedly at his near-empty dinner plate.

He nodded, slowly getting up from his chair. "What would you like?"

"Just a slice of warm apple pie with cream," she said, shrugging. "Simple tastes."

_Like Katie_, he thought. _Straight, brown hair like her, too_. "I will return soon."

Just as he reached the bar to order, Katie walked over as well.

"Hello, Oliver," she said, blushing. "How are you?"

"The same as I was two hours ago, when we were at Hogwarts," he said, signalling the barmaid so that he wouldn't have to look at the young woman beside him. "How is your date?"

"Dean introduced us," she told him. "They're best friends, in the year below us. I'm sure you know that Dean's with Ginny Weasley? They make a fantastic couple."

"So…you are going out with a younger man," he said, glancing at Seamus.

"Well, this is only the second date," she said. "But…"

The barmaid chose this very moment to appear. "What can I get you?" she asked, looking at Oliver, and then at Katie.

"You were here first," said Katie, gesturing at Oliver to order his dessert.

"Two slices of apple pie," he said, and the barmaid – whose nametag read 'Rosmerta' – wrote it down.

"Heated up?"

"Yes, please."

"Cream?"

"Yes."

"I'll bring it over soon. And…?" she said, raising an eyebrow at Katie. "What would you like, love?"

"I'll see you around, Katie," Oliver said, bowing his head, and he returned to his date.

_Second date… second date…_The words echoed through his head as he half-listened to the woman across from him. She chattered away about the pie she had had at a very famous bar once – The Quidditch Player and the Quaffle – and how The Three Broomsticks was going to buy it out.

"You must hear quite a bit of industry news working for the Prophet," he said, hoping that dessert wouldn't take long to eat.

"Oh, yes. Being the food editor has its advantages…"

* * *

Standing at the foot of the stairs to the girls' dormitory, Seamus turned Katie around. They'd just returned from their fifth date, this time to a long walk around Hogsmeade village, followed by dinner at The Three Broomsticks. He took her hands in his.

"What about a real goodnight kiss this time?" he asked, the corners of his lips twitching in an almost-smile.

"Seamus," she began, "someone once told me that I should save my first kiss for the man that I love, and I-I don't feel that way about you. Not yet." She was confident enough to repeat Oliver's words, as Seamus and Dean were absent from her birthday celebrations.

"I hope you don't mind me saying so, but that advice is old-fashioned." He leaned closer. "Please say yes."

"I…" She felt a tug in her stomach - one that was definitely pulling in the direction of her dormitory, the comfort of her bed and peaceful sleep - not to the boy in front of her. "I can't. Not just yet. Give me just another week. Please?"

He sighed. The look in her eyes was sincere. "Take all the time you need, Katie. I'm in no rush."

She smiled in relief. "Thank you, Seamus." She kissed him on both cheeks, and hugged him extra tight. "We can go on another date on the next Hogsmeade weekend, okay?"

"That's fine." He pushed back her hair to see her face clearly in the lamplight. "You're a beautiful witch, Katie. A wizard would be mad not to wait for you."

She smiled shakily and nodded. With a quick "goodnight", she darted up the stairs to her dormitory without looking back.

* * *

Oliver slumped as he watched Katie and Seamus from his armchair in the corner of the Gryffindor common room. He waited until the couple had said their goodbyes before standing up and steering himself away from the direction of the stairs. He wandered into his own bedroom - McGonagall had given him a spare bedroom behind the boys' dormitory when she found out that he was staying at Hogwarts to help coach the Gryffindor Quidditch team, as the members of Puddlemere United were on holiday for a few weeks.

He began pacing around the small room. Katie was better at sticking to relationships than he was, that was for sure. Was she serious about this one? After Jason Bridges, the boy who lived next door to her, there had been only two boys he knew about - one in her fourth year, who she went with to the Yule Ball, and the other one just last year. He'd forgotten their names by now.

But she and Seamus had been together for two months or so.

"I am a fool," he muttered, kicking off his slippers. One of them landed on his head, but he barely noticed. "I should have kissed her properly on her birthday. That was my one chance, and I threw it away. Threw away my first kiss as well." He blinked back the angry tears. "I knew she'd never want me – but what if she had? What if, in that one moment, I could have convinced her to…to…"

He rolled over, sweeping his shoe aside, and pressed his face into the pillow, determined to drown out all light and sound, and hopefully all thoughts of Katie Bell.

* * *

George was walking down the stairs as Katie climbed them.

"Hey George," Katie greeted him with a smile.

"How was your date with Seamus?"

Katie couldn't help but notice that George's tone was less than pleased. "Are you okay, Angelina?"

"I'm fine. But…Alicia and I need to talk to you about something." He paused, and then motioned for Katie to follow him into his room.

It was a short but tense walk up to the boys' dormitory. Most of the other Gryffindor girls were asleep by this time of night, but all of the boys were still awake, playing wizard chess and whatnot. They watched as George and Katie went by, and some even wolf-whistled. Finally, they reached Fred, George and Lee Jordan's room. Alicia, dressed in a pink nightgown, was seated on one of the beds, reading the latest issue of _Witch Weekly_. She looked up as George came through the door with Katie at his heels, and smiled.

"Katie! We were just looking for you! How was your date?"

"Oh, it was fine, thank you."

"Katie," George interrupted. "We want to talk to you about Oliver."

"Oh." Katie looked down at her clasped hands. "What about him?"

Alicia arched an eyebrow. "Can't you tell how much he likes you?"

Katie stiffened, and raised her chin defiantly. "No, I can't tell. And do you know why? Because you're speaking of feelings that aren't there. He doesn't like me - at least, not in the way I like him."

"Actually, Katie," said Alicia, "he in love with you."

Katie's lower lip trembled. "No." Her voice was husky. "No. He isn't…isn't in love w-with…with me. I know that. He'd never love me. I'll always be a Quidditch Chaser to him.

"Alicia leaned across, and took one of Katie's hands. "Katie, you'll always be _so_ much more than just a Chaser. You're in love with him. Admit it."

Katie's reaction was not what Alicia or George had in mind; she tore her hand away as she stood up from the bed. "Yes!" she shouted. "I've been in love with him since…since sixth year, I think! But he'd never look at me twice. He only sees me as a Chaser on his Quidditch team. He didn't even k-kiss me last September. Am I supposed to wait all my life on the off-chance that he may develop feelings for me?"

George sighed. "The feelings are already there -"

"No, George. You may be one of Oliver's best friends, but you don't know everything about him. I may love him, but you are seeing things if you think that Oliver Wood loves me." With that, she stormed from the room, and George and Alicia shared helpless looks as they heard the wrenching sobs from the hallway outside.

* * *

Katie hadn't slept at all. She was half-dozing at the Gryffindor table during breakfast. She was snuggled between Angelina and Alicia, who were either snogging or chatting with their respective boyfriends, who sat beside them. Opposite them were Harry, Ron and Hermione - the latter of which had her nose buried in today's _Daily Prophet_.

"'Puddlemere Chaser vanishes amid chaos at Holyhead match'?" Harry read from over Hermione's shoulder. "Has Oliver heard about this?

"For all we know, it's probably just the _Prophet _spouting nonsense," Hermione scoffed.

Ron snorted. "Nonsense? This is serious, Hermione. Puddlemere's just lost a player! He's not going to be happy to hear this."

The three of them continued their conversation, and Katie, still half-asleep, sipped from her goblet of pumpkin juice while listening to what they were saying about Oliver's Quidditch team, but when their chatter changed to a different topic, she soon became disinterested.

"Ha-Harry," she called, yawning partway through his name, "I don't suppose you have any potion to keep me awake today? I know it's Sunday, but exams are soon, and I need my wits about me as I study. And I don't want to see Professor Snape."

"Late night?" Hermione asked.

"Didn't s-sleep." She rubbed at her tired eyes. She froze when a familiar male sat beside her.

"Don't worry, Katie," said Harry, glancing at Oliver, who was reaching across Katie for toast. "Just come by the common room after breakfast. I'll be sure to ask Madam Pomfrey for a Pepper-Up Potion."

"Thanks, Harry." She kept her gaze on her plate, even though she could sense Oliver's eyes on her. Her hands shook, and she dropped her knife, which had previously been cutting up her fried egg. "What?" she hissed. "What is it, Oliver? What did I do?"

"Who said that you did anything, Katie?" he asked.

Instead of replying, she stood from the table. "I'll meet you in the common room later, Harry. Don't forget the potion," she said, and promptly left the Great Hall.

Oliver was immediately on the receiving end of several glares, but he merely looked away and continued to eat.

* * *

Returning to the Gryffindor common room, Katie stopped by a window. She felt much more awake now, but Madam Pomfrey had given Harry an extra potion to give to Katie, this one for sleeping. One teaspoon in milk before bedtime, and she'd have a full and deep eight-hour sleep.

What would happen if she took the whole bottle right now? Could it end this pain…permanently?

"Katie?"

With a shriek, she dropped the vial. Fortunately it was made of unbreakable glass - but she still flinched when it hit the floor.

"…hello, Oliver," she said, breaking the silence.

"Sorry about that," he apologised. Before she could reach for the potion, he bent over and clasped it. He straightened up slowly, running his eyes over her, but she wasn't looking at him, and missed his intense gaze.

When he was finally standing tall, he cleared his throat. Katie looked up at him, and gasped quietly at the closeness between them. She took the bottle from him, turning away immediately, and thrust it into her other pocket.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"I have to speak with you," he said.

"About what?"

He frowned at her sharp tone. "Did I do something wrong?"

She sighed, and shook her head. "It's just something Alicia said last night."

"So Finnigan didn't upset you?"

"Seamus would never do that," she said. "Not on purpose."

He flinched, and turned to look out the window. "Yes," he whispered. "I know."

"Oliver? What is it?" Feeling ashamed with herself, she placed a hand on his arm.

He moved quickly. Twisting around, he pulled her into a tight embrace. Without giving her a moment to protest he pressed his lips to hers, caressing them lovingly, and forcing her to reciprocate. Her hands went up around the back of his neck, and he bent her over the back of his arm. Both were driven purely by instinct, having never done this before.

She whimpered in protest when he pulled back, but had no complaints when he whispered, "I love you, Katie."

"Oh," she whispered, and suddenly, a tear fell from her lower eyelash. Crying seemed to be a regular occurrence these days, and she had no idea why. "Oliver…I love you, too."

He drew in a shaky breath. "Thank Merlin for that." He paused to push back a stray lock of Katie's hair behind her ear. "You know, I'm sorry for being such a jerk. I should have kissed you on your birthday. I wanted to, but I wasn't sure if you wanted me to, so…"

Katie smiled. "I did," she admitted, and he grinned sheepishly. "But you can make up for that by kissing me again."

"Gladly."

* * *

**A/N: How was that for my first ever Katie/Oliver fic? I hope it wasn't _too_ bad. But I will admit that the ending was a bit rushed...I didn't quite know how I wanted the story to finish, so I did the cliché thing and ended the story with them kissing. :P**

**Mel, I hope you get heaps of presents, and I do hope your birthday cake hasn't been tampered with (who knows, Fred may be attempting to lick the icing off yours right now)! This is my birthday present to you.**

**Have a wonderful day, and enjoy being seventeen! :)**


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